


Zantabraxus in Europa

by Han502653



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Lots o' characters, Maybe eventually Ot3 and Higgs/Zeetha, Mostly kidfic for now, Multi, Rating will change with story, but mostly Gen, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:13:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3516656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Han502653/pseuds/Han502653
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zantabraxus came with Klaus to Europa. Maybe she caught him as he tried to sneak out. Maybe she dashed after him when she realized he was gone. Maybe Klaus decided she deserved to know what he was doing, face to face, and she made a surprising choice. Either way she, and Zeetha, are here to stay.</p><p>A series of interconnected oneshots, in no real order, about how the story changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Surprising Dinner

**Author's Note:**

> Zeetha and Gil know that their Mom and The Baron are in to each other, they also know that for some reason they won’t do anything about it. Eventually they give in and decided that if the adults won’t do anything, they will. The Jägers find it all hilarious and can’t help but get involved.
> 
> Otherwise the story in which Zeetha and Gil try and hook up Zantabraxus and Klaus not knowing they are already married, and also that Klaus is their dad.

Zeetha pouted as she glanced around the corner to see their mother, Zantabraxus and The Baron part ways. “Still nothing but a whole _buncha_ flirting,” she informed the two boys behind her. Gil let out a groan of disappointment while Tarvek rolled his eyes. Zeetha leaned back and allowed herself to slide down the wall dramatically, as she pulled at her hair. It was up for once, since all the kids had been taken on a small field trip to see the new engine that had recently been installed, and the engineer had insisted. Zeetha found the trip incredibly dull, especially since she had seen it already during the midnight exploring she and the boys got up to. The boys of coarse had been thrilled to listen to all the mechanical talk.

“I still don’t see _why_ we’re doing this,” Tarvek said and he pushed up his glasses. “They're adults, if they want to get together they will get together.” He paused and thought that through. “Unless maybe they don’t because of politics,” he suggested. Gil gave him a shove.

“Since when did The Baron _care_ about _politics_ ,” he asked with a shake of his head. “You’re the one always complaining about how he doesn’t care about his image and stuff.”

Tarvek shrugged and shoved him back, “I’m just saying it is a possibility, after all these plans of yours and their still not together, there _must_ be a reason.”

 “You mean like being clueless,” Gil offered as he joined his sister on the floor.

 “I’m pretty sure adults are supposed to have it more together than that,” Tarvek said dryly as he daintily joined his friends.

 “I’m pretty sure that’s something adults tell kids to make them feel better about themselves,” Zeetha resorted. “Else they would have figured it out the time we _locked_ them in the _closet_.” All three of them paused, and though back to that day two months ago. Tarvek shivered.

 “I still _hate_ you for that plan,” Tarvek scowled at Zeetha who grinned wide enough to show off her new, much sharper canines. One was only half grown in, but she was incredibly proud of them. Especially since Gil still had one of his baby canines. “Do you realize how much trouble we would have gotten if Jorgi hadn’t passed by and taken the blame? You might have not gotten into a lot of trouble, but he might have sent me _home_!”

 Zeetha’s grin fell, and she exchanged glances with her brother. Neither of them really understood Tarvek’s fear of being sent home, but it was obvious that he thought it was a bad thing.

“He wouldn’t have sent you home Tarvek,” Gil reassured him. “That’s kind of against the whole point of why you’re here.”

“ _We_ wouldn’t have let him anyway,” Zeetha assured grasping him on the shoulder. “I would have taken the blame, it was my idea anyway.”

Tarvek looked both touched and unconvinced and the three fell into a moment of awkward silence.

“Still want to know why Jorgi wouldn’t stop snickering when we told him what we were doing,” Zeetha said once she had enough of the silence.

 Gil shrugged with one shoulder. “What we need is a new plan, one that _won’t_ get us in a lot of trouble if we get caught.”

The three fell into silence again, with no idea forth coming, and then, finally-

“What about a surprise dinner,” Tarvek offered slowly. Both Gil and Zeetha jumped, Tarvek had never offered an idea on this before. “We’ll fake a memo from your Mom asking The Baron to come to her office, and do the same for her and have a dinner all set up for them when they get there.”

“That could work,” Gil said, “except I don’t know how to cook.” All three of them slouched at that.

 “Maybe we could ask Jorgi for help,” Zeetha offered. ”He didn’t actually say no when we asked him before.” That was true; he had instead stumbled away, from three very confused children, snickering.

Tarvek looked at her weirdly from the corner of his eye, “Jorgi is a Jäger, I don’t think he will know how to cook, not for normal people anyway.”

“Theirs, like, more than a _thousand_ Jägers,” Zeetha responded, throwing her hands up in the air. “One of them has got to know how to cook; maybe he can point us to them.”

 “Well it’s worth a shot,” Gil decided getting up with a stretch. “Let’s go see if we can find him.”

 

 They found Jorgi pretty quickly, just outside one of the bars that had recently been built to accommodate the Jägers. He peaked out from under his hat as they approached, and raised an eyebrow. “Hoy dere, I don' tink hyu tykes are sopposed to be here,” He said in way of greeting.

Gil grinned. “Probably not but we wanted to ask for your help.”

 “You didn’t say no when we asked you before,” Zeetha said leaning over Gil’s shoulder. He shrugged her off and she gave him a dirty look. Jorgi’s lips twitched as he tried to hide a smile.

“Hy deedn', deed Hy, vell vat keend uf help are hyu lookink for,” he asked?

“We want to throw them a surprise romantic dinner,” Tarvek explained, looking around as if scared someone would overhear and tattle. “But none of us knows _how_ to cook. We were hoping you might know someone who does.”

At this Jorgi failed completely, and his grin grew to stretch across his whole face. “Hy'll see vat Hy can do.”

What the kids didn’t know is that as soon as Jorgi had left them after the closet incident, he had met up with some of his brothers and told them about the kid’s quest to, if unknowingly, get their parents together. This had spread like wildfire through the ranks even up to the Generals. All who heard it had been incredibly amused and charmed by the idea.

So, to say the least, the kids were very surprised to find themselves in General Goomblast quarters the next day. The three kids stared up wide eyes and slacked jaws at the huge figure of whom they had only seen at a distance. He was bigger than even The Baron, and his mouth was wide enough that he could easily swallow one of them whole. He smiled, they gulped.

“Vat can Hy do for de tree uf hyu,” He asked kindly. “Jorgi saeed hyu needed zum help cookink, yah.” All three of their mouths snapped shut, and Gil took a deep breath for confidence.

“Um, yeah…We wanted to make a surprise dinner for our Mom, and um, well…” He trailed off scratching at the back of his neck, so Zeetha shoved him aside and took his place.

“And the Baron, because we know they totally have a thing for each other,” she said with her head held high, daring the General to say otherwise.

Unlike Jorgi, The General managed not to start laughing hysterically; instead he simply waved them into his quarters. “Vell den, vat do hyu vant to cook?” All three sighed in relief.

“Nothing _to_ fancy,” Gil started. “But…uh…romantic?” He blinked as he tried to figure out if food could be romantic. Tarvek rolled his eyes at him, and Gil elbowed in the side as retaliation. “And um, their probably shouldn’t be any bugs in it…” To his relief, The General just nodded at his request instead of taking offence.

Zeetha looked pensive, “I don’t know if mom _would_ mind bugs,” she wondered aloud quietly. Tarvek’s face went green.

Goomblast lead the three into his kitchen, and quickly set them to work. They started off slow, darting to collect the ingredients he asked for and getting tasks done as told. But slowly they began to relax as they got into the thick of things and the food really began to take shape. 

Zeetha watched as more and more ingredients was taken out and used up with some alarm. “We can pay you, you know, me and Gil get an allowance, but it might take a while.”

Goomblast waved her off, “Don’t vorry about it sveethot. Hy enjoy cookink. It iz its own reward.”

Not long after that a wonderful smell began to drift throughout Goomblast’s quarters and out into the hall. So wonderful in fact that it attracted company in the form of General Khrizhan who let himself in. The children where then given the gift of watching the comedic epic of Goomblast finish up dinner while expertly dodging and fighting off Khrizhan’s every attempt at snitching a bite.

By the end of the visit all three of the children where to busy laughing to feel all that afraid or even awkward around the Jäger Generals.

“Now how ur hyu gon to getz all diz to hyu Momma’s office,” General Goomblast asked as they all took a quick tea and cookie break, both with and without bugs, Khrizhan happily munching on some cookies at his side. All three children blinked, and glanced at each other, before drooping. Khrizhan laughed, and patted Zeetha heavily on her back when he noticed she was carefully trying one of the bug cookies. She coughed as she nearly choked from surprise.

“Don’t hyu vorry about it. Hy’ll call a coople uf my boys to help hyu three gets all diz over dere.” At their uncertain looks he grinned. “Believe it or not, Jägers can be _sneaky_ ven ve vant to be,” and with that taken care of the five finished off the cookies, Khrizhan and Goomblast getting into another argument when Khrizhan tried to take more than his share, and then loaded up the food onto a trolley.

“Here hyu go keeds,” Khrizhan exclaimed with a clap as he reentered the room, five Jägers, Jorgi included, behind him. “Hyu very own teem for hyu mission.”

“Thiz iz a mission,” one of them muttered, Jorgi elbowed him in his ribs.

That same Jäger would then go on to be the most picky of the lot as they began to set up, getting into arguments where the candles should be exactly, and the exact angle of the food trolley should sit at to be the most romantic, until all five where squabbling pointlessly. Eventually it got to the point that Gil, filled with frustration, kicked the Jägers out and the trio rushed to finished up everything as the clock ticked nearer to the meet up time they had placed on the memo.

They had just snuck out of the office and ducked around the corner when heavy footsteps thundered. Gil peeked around the corner to find The Baron walking leisurely up the hall. “He’s coming he whispered, only to be pulled back by Tarvek who had grabbed a hand from both twins and was quickly making his way to the living quarters.

“What are you _doing_?” Zeetha complained, trying to pull her hand free. “I want to see what happens.”

“No way,” Tarvek countered. “Us being gone all day is suspicious enough, we need an alibi.”

“Tarvek,” Gil groaned. “You’re _not_ going to get into trouble, I promise.” Tarvek just shook his head and the Twins sighed.

 

Klaus took his time walking from his Office to Zanta’s, his mind mulling over the strange memo he had found in his office that morning. He couldn’t help but grin a bit. Zanta rarely felt the need to send memos, especially if it was urgent, so really the only thing he could think that she wanted was-

Klaus reached her door just as the woman in question turned out of a branching hallway. When she spotted him she lit up, and increased her pace. “Couldn’t wait for tomorrow,” she asked with a leer, waving a paper in her hand. Klaus’ grin dropped, and seeing that she stopped cold, glancing questioningly up at him.

“I got a memo from _you_ ,” he told her, holding up his own paper. They both stared at each other’s paper, then as one looked up at her office door, then back at each other. Then They both grinned in and let the papers fall. Zanta pulled a knife from her belt, while Klaus grabbed a small death ray out of his coat. Zanta tsked at it but Klaus simply gave her a helpless shrug, and then kicked the door open.

The door fell to the ground with a crash, and they were greeted by a rush of aroma, of candles burning and some wonderful cooked food. Klaus stared, mouth agape at the small dinner set for two in front of him, while Zanta broke down in hysterics, doubling over and even dropping her knife. Klaus blinked one and stared down at her.

“Oh-my-Goddess,” she made out between laughs. “I can’t-believe that-“she burst out laughing again, and Klaus was left feeling like the butt of some joke.

“What do you know who did this,” he stopped. “Did you do this?”

Zanta nodded yes, and then no around her hysterics before taking a deep breath and standing back straight up. “The kids-“She started as she wiped tears from her eyes.

“ _Your_ kids,” Klaus asked paranoid, just stopping himself from looking around.

Zanta rolled her eyes and sighed, “Yes, my kids, their trying to set us up.”

“Oh,” Klaus said and then the irony of the situation hit him full force. “Oh!”

“Yes ‘ _oh_ ’, moron,” Zanta said lovingly, patting him on the shoulder. “Obviously we are not as subtle as we like to think we are.”

“You knew,” he asked again, and at her nod he asked. “How long?”

“Since the closet incident,” Zanta provided and they both paused for a second to think back, Zanta smirk becoming more of a leer before she brushed it aside. “Though I bet they have been trying longer, I received a couple of really _sappy_ love letters before that, I just thought you were being a dork.”

Klaus did his best to hide his blush. The fact that she said multiple meant that the kids must have been behind it, but he could remember that one night he had gotten a bit to drunk when she was off ship, and there had been some paper in front of him, and well, from what he can remember writing, it had been horribly sappy. He had hoped he had thrown it away and not sent it to her, but he hadn’t been sure. Zanta raised a slim eyebrow at him and her smirk grew.

“ _You_ are showing me which one was yours,” Zanta ordered, poking him in his chest, he sighed.

“What do we do now?” he asked, changing the subject.

Zanta let her grin fall and leaned back on her heels, “You know what _I_ think we should do.”

He pinched his nose. “Yes, yes I do.” He paused then let out a long sigh. “And you’re probably right.”

Zanta beamed and grabbed onto his hands, “Of course I’m right,” she said lightly. “But it doesn’t have to be right now, not with this lovely dinner made for us.” She lowered her eyelids, and grinned up at him. “And maybe I could convince you top stay a little _longer_.”

Klaus blinked, and then his own small grin spread across his face, “perhaps,” he agreed amicably as he followed her into the office, pulling up the door and putting it back in its place.


	2. A Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An exhausted Zanta and Klaus rest in Beetlesburg as the scope of the Other’s attack becomes apparent. Klaus still mourning, is convinced only he can fix things, but how he wants to go about keeping his children safe is against everything Zanta stands for. Meanwhile The Twins are cute and rambunctious and have days of energy begging to be used up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Universe 2 story, see the end note for more information (because spoilers).  
> The timeline makes no sense in this story, or this AU, but since this isn't a serious story I decided I didn't care. So yeah the Twins are way to young for the time period but whatever.

Klaus Wulfenbach and Zantabraxus, formerly of Skifander, laid out in a heap on the first bed they had been graced with for what felt like years, not caring that they were dirty and damp. In their exhausted state they ignores the shrieks and footfalls coming from the other room, where two, two and a half year olds were happily burning off several days’ worth of energy in one go. It had been a long time since either of them had gotten the chance to really run around, and neither of their parents had the energy or the heart to stop them. Gil had figured out doors (and if Zeetha was a bit taller they didn’t doubt she would have as well) but neither of them were familiar with locks. So the key that Klaus still held with a death grip was all the assurance they needed to let them run to their pleasure, even if that pleasure involved cannonballing off the walls. Klaus half expected they would find tiny footstep on the celling when they finally managed to get up, if the sound was any inclination.

A week before they had finally crossed the defensive ring around Mechanicsburg and truly learned of the devastation The Other had brought to the region. It would only just be an exaggeration to say they had then spent the entirety of the next four days fighting off revenants along with the other common beasts found in the area. Then they had finally made it to Klaus hometown.

Or what was left of it.

Klaus closed his eyes. Days, he had been just days too late. His parents were dead and would never get the chance to meet their grandchildren. His hometown was in ruins to the point he doubted it could ever recover. Of the townspeople who had made it out alive only a few were left, a few who had been far, far too happy to see him.

He should have tried to return to them years ago.

As he sat around the campfire that night, surrounded by townspeople cooing over the uncharacteristically shy twins and being charmed by his wife, he came up with a plan, a crazy, mad plan. One that he still couldn’t believe Zanta supported.

It wasn’t until later, as said plan developed, that she got mad.

He sighed and glanced at his sleeping wife. She had been up for days at this point, much longer than he since she was much more practiced with the technique. She had been too tired to care that she was angry with him earlier, and for the moment was happily curled up in his arms.

That next morning he had rounded up the few refuges and moved out. It had been Zanta who had asked him in a whisper if they had somewhere they could go, allies. It had been her that reminded him there was still people out there who could help.

Part of him had wanted to venture to Mechanicsburg. But the once rumors now confirmed, Lucrezia and a young son kidnapped, Bill and Barry disappeared on their quest to find them, No mention of Punch and Judy, Carson dead, The Castle damaged badly… He just couldn’t do it.

Not to mention that would mean going back the way they had come, through hordes of monsters, and revenants, and needing to cross mountains once again now with not only two toddlers, but another ten people with few fighting skill between them and all at least a bit injured.

No, but Beetlesburg was not far. He hadn’t known the situation of monsters and revenants in it’s path, no better than anywhere else he soon learned, but at least the terrain was much kinder to travelers.

It had taken another three days to make it to Beetlesburg, and after a very brief and blurred with exhaustion meeting with his old teacher, Tyrant Beetle himself—he had never once though the old man would ever give him a hug—they had collapsed in the housing supplied to them.

That had been several hours ago, he could tell by the fading shrieks in the room over as well as by the fading light that drifted through the cracks of the covered window.

Zanta stirred next to him. He turned to look at her with a small smile only to be stilled by her sober stare.

“You still want to do it?” She asked, her voice slurred from sleep. He sighed.

“Zanta, if I do this, try and take over, bring peace, people will come after me. You would be in danger.” Catching her unimpressed look he continued hurriedly. “The children will be in danger. People will try and use them against me.”

She sighed. “It’s one thing to not tell others about them, Chump.” Klaus winced. Zanta often used ‘chump’ teasingly but he could always tell when she was using it much more literally. “But to try and—“ She paused to take a deep breath. “Try and make Ba’in and Demor1 forget about you—“

Klaus sat up and rubbed a hand down his face. “Their children Zanta, we can’t ask them to keep a secret like this, and all it would take was for them to tell one person and everything is up—“

Zanta rose as well, her hands clenching as did her teeth showing her disquieting sharp canines. “And _how_ exactly do you plan on doing that?” She hissed in warning. Klaus in all his years married to her still managed to miss it.

“The most logical way would be to attempt memory displacement,” he mused, his brain latching a little too close to the Madness place for comfort. “But—“

Zanta gripped his forearm and made him look at her. “If you dare—” She said slowly, her eye all but bursting into flames. “Try and touch my children’s _minds_ , I _will_ pack them up and _leave_. Then you can have your—“

Klaus flinched back and quickly held up his hands in the universal sign of surrender2. “I was about to say I would _never_ , I swear!” Zanta stared at him and then glanced away, looking both embarrassed and a bit ashamed. He gently put his hand on where still gripped his arm. “I would never do something like that to them. I promise.”

They sat like that for several moments. A screech from the room over had both their heads turning. But well-practiced ears told them it was one of indignation not pain or fear. After a moment went by, and another didn’t respond to it, they concluded that whatever had happened had worked itself out. The twins were rather good at that for toddlers.

Zanta looked back at him sadly. “Then how… how would you make them forget.”

Klaus paused. “I go away. Start getting everything set up. You stay here with the twins, safe. Once I have things started, more stable, I’ll come back. By then they shouldn’t remember me, we can tell them I’m simply a friend of yours. You can come live wherever I have set up. Once their old enough to keep secrets we can tell them the truth.”

Zanta looked miserable and took her arm away, pulling it around herself in a show of vulnerability that was completely foreign to Klaus. Looking steadily at the bed, her eyes hidden from him she said. “That is the _dumbest_ thing I have ever heard from you. And I was their when you said your name was Chump!”

Klaus winced. “What would you have me _do?_ This is the best scenario I can come up with. I’ll still be around. We can still see each other. The kids… They’ll learn as soon as they can.” His voice softened. “What would you have me do?”

“Do you realize just how long you would have to be gone for them to forget about you, forget about you enough they don’t remember you on sight. Our children are not idiots Chump, they don’t have the memory of a fish. If you were to ask them about the last winter solstice they could still tell you _something_ about it and that was _months_ ago, and you are far more important than that to them. You’re talking about _years_ Klaus. By the time they have truly forgotten they will be old enough to keep that secret.”

“I think you overestimating a bit,” he said. “Surely you don’t have memories as yourself as a two year old.” He didn’t, but he wasn’t a fair judge. After the… accident when he was fourteen his entire childhood had become blurred.

“No,” She huffed. “But I’m a _thirty_ year old woman. They are children. I might not have memories of when I was two but when I was five maybe I did. I don’t know, I never asked a five year old.”

Her hands shook. “And what do you expect me to do. You off creating your stupid empire and I get to try and explain to two toddlers why their Zo3, who they completely _adore_ by the way in case you haven’t noticed, isn’t around anymore. What am I supposed to do when they start asking questions?”

Klaus stared in horror as her voice wavered. “The whole point of me coming with you was so we could be a _family_ , Klaus, with what you’re saying, maybe I shouldn’t have even bothered.”

“I’m just _trying_ to keep the people I care about _alive!_ ” he pleaded in frustration, his fist hitting the bed with a dull thud. He glanced at Zanta just in time to see her pull a hand from her face, which he still couldn’t see.

With a sigh she stood and walked over to where they had aimlessly thrown their coats and boots before collapsing in bed. A sudden panic stuck Klaus like a strike from a Fafflenarg beast4.

“What are you doing!” He asked trying and failing to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Zanta paused, and then turned to glance at him dryly, her eyes shown in the little light that was left. “The light has almost gone,” she remarked as if talking to a small child, though it was soft, reassuring. “And I’m sure the kids are hungry. I’m going to go get us something to eat.” Relief flooded Klaus and he glanced away embarrassed.

Klaus threw his legs over the side of the bed but hesitated at her glare as she approached the door.

“No,” She told him blandly. “You are staying here and watching the Twins, and—“ She ducked her head, her face falling into shadows. “—and spending time with them.” She paused then in a small miserably resigned whisper added. “While you _still_ can.” She turned before he had time to react and left through the partially open door. Squeals of “Ko 4!” echoed through the apartment.

Klaus watched her go dejectedly. After a couple quite words with The Twins that he couldn’t make out he heard the front door of the small apartment open and then close. Belatedly he looked down at his hand and realized that at some point Zanta had managed to pick the key from him.

With a sigh he dropped his head into his hands. Zanta had given up so much to follow him to Europa. He knew that. Her family, her home, her status as Queen, most of her customs and the ability to speak her language and have people around her understand. Hell, even the ability to wear what she was comfortable in and not be shamed and shunned. She had done it for the safety of their son as well as for a chance for all of them to be together as a real family.

And here he was destroying that.

“…Zo?”

Klaus glanced up to find Gil staring up at him. A concerned look, so strange on his youthful features that it was almost comical, adorned his face. The soup ladle he had become attached to during the journy6 clenched tightly in his small hand. It’s handle in his mouth where he absentmindedly chewed on it. “Zur sad?”

Klaus sighed and opened up his arms for Gil, who climbed the imposing figure of his father expertly. “You, Gil, ‘You sad’ and yes, I guess I am.” Gil frowned, pulling out the ladle from his mouth and stood on his father’s knee so he could wrap his arms around his father’s shoulder in a hug. “Better?”

Klaus smiled sadly even as a faint pressure built up in his sinuses. Tightly he held Gil to him, his eyes clenched shut. Just how much he was planning on giving up hitting him all at once. “A little,” he told him, a lie.

And then suddenly the human cannonball also known as Zeetha thumped into his back. Klaus grunted, not sure when Zeetha had managed to get into the room, let alone how she had managed to get enough air to clutch to the back of his neck.

“Zo,” she shouted happily with a wide toothy grin, her canines much less alarming than her mothers7.

“Yes Zeetha,” He asked patiently.

“Hi!”

He rolled his eyes, his smile still sad.

“Hello Zeetha.”

Zeetha brows clutched confusedly at his tone.

“Zo sad,” Gil explained from where his head was tucked under Klaus’s chin. Zeetha looked at him and then stared deeply into her father’s eyes, her face unreadable. After a moment she let go of her father’s neck, allowing herself to fall to the bed. Then she tumbled to the ground and walked silently from the room. Klaus stared after her bewildered.

“What was that all about,” he asked Gil who shrugged and settled himself back in his father’s lap, tucked into one of his arms. He babbled something at him that Klaus had no idea what meant. Something in the psudo-language he and Zeetha shared that Klaus had yet to really crack. The two often forgot their parents couldn’t understand them.

“Gil what—“ With another grunt he accepted Zeetha into his arms. She bounded back just enough to shove his old stuffed bunny into his chest. “Lun you will make better.”

“Lun will make me better,” he corrected absentmindedly. Taking the small bunny into his hands. It had truly seen better days. It had been his as a child, and he was the reason it was so covered in stitches. After waking from his accident to find both of his brothers were dead, he had torn it to shreds in his anger. His mother had painstakingly stitched it back up. After that he couldn’t get rid of it. Bill and Barry had used to tease him for bringing it to collage with him, but he hadn’t cared.

His thumb carefully stroked one of his mother’s perfect stitches. She had cared so much for him, loved him so much, and now he would never get to see her stitch anything ever again. He closed his eyes to steady himself, and then looked down at the Twins.

Zeetha stared up at him with just as much concern as her brother, maybe even more so as she came to terms with the fact her gift had made him sadder. Her hands, half hidden even though both her sleeves had been rolled up8, grasped at his shirt. Both of them were concerned, both of them wanted him to be happy, both of them loved him so much.

He thought of how much it hurt him to come to terms that he was never going to see his parents again. How much it hurt that they were gone.

Klaus pulled the two tightly against his chest. “I’m alright,” he told them. “I just need a hug.” The two happily obliged, staying in his arms until they fell asleep, exhausted from the running around they had done.

 

Zanta poked her head in the door a half hour later. Her eyes were suspiciously bloodshot, but dry; in one hand she held a bag. She found Klaus staring down at the two sleeping toddlers in his arms. He glanced up at her, his eyes wet.

“I can’t do it, I just can’t.”

“Oh Klaus,” Zanta sighed, setting the bag down on the floor and sitting next to him, one arm stretching out around him. That sat in silence like that until The Twins woke up and demanded to be fed.

Klaus never did bring up trying to make them forget him ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously this story isn't canon to the first one. I've split this set of oneshots into two universes. Universe 1 is where Klaus dose decide to leave to make the twins forget him, and in Universe 2 is where he doesn't. I'll mark them all on a note on top.
> 
> 1\. Ba’in (Spikey) Zeetha’s baby name thanks to her hair. Demor (Surprise one) Gil’s baby name. A fanon tradition I gave Skifander is that they don’t name their children before their first month, instead they tend to get baby names that really aren’t real names.  
> 2\. Amongst everyone but some of the more “energetic” sparks it seemed, they tended to take it as “Shoot me first!” Culture differences. What can you do?  
> 3\. Zo: Skifandrian for Poppa, Daddy, or similar. Pronounced more like “Zoo.”  
> 4\. Fafflanarg Beasts, Skifander creatures who live in caves. Not something one should try to fight on your own, even if you are a Queen, Zantabraxus!  
> 5\. Ko: Skifandrian for Mamma, Mommy, or similar. Pronounced “K-oh”  
> 6\. Both Zanta and Klaus were a little concerned about him becoming attached to it, but since the only toy they had was Klaus old stiffed bunny (Something Lucrezia had though funny to send with him, even as she forgot his clothes) which had been quickly claimed by Zeetha, they didn’t do anything about it. If Gil found amusement from it, well who were they to stop him.  
> 7\. Every mother in Skifander thanked the goddesses that the large sharp canines Skifandrians were known for didn’t come in until their adult teeth.  
> 8\. When trying to take a set of twins through mostly wilderness for years, it makes sense to have several outfits that they can share instead of trying to have two separate sets of clothes. Even if the smaller one was completely dwarfed because of it.


	3. Meeting old friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zanta is ill and Klaus it out shopping for dinner and medicine. To give her some time to sleep he has taken the twins with him. When Zeetha runs off to watch an underworked Mechanic carve out a toy, Klaus ends up finding a few familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Universe 2 story

“Medicine, fruit, milk, that clockwork cat that doesn’t move right that will hopefully keep your mother in bed for a couple more hours, all that’s left in some bread—Zeetha!”

Zeetha looked up from where she had wandered a bit, her face set in perfect innocence. She skipped back over.

“Zeetha what did I tell you!” Klaus asked sternly as she rocked on her heels in front of him. Zeetha simply tilted her head. With a sigh Klaus stooped down to attempt to at least try and look her in the eye. A comical attempt considering he still loamed over her.

“Zeetha—“Zeetha looked everywhere but at his eyes. With a finger Klaus pushed her head towards him. She pouted and crossed her arms. He sighed. “Zeetha this is your last warning, if you try to wander off again I will carry you the rest of the way. Got it!” She huffed but as they started off to find a bread seller she stayed by his heels. Opposite from Gil who hadn’t let go of his pants leg the entire trip, nervous amongst the crowds.

People were an oddity to The Twins who had lived most of their short life alone with their parents, each other, and monsters. It had only been a week since the four of them had made it to Beetlesburg and Gil was still wary. Klaus wished Zeetha had held onto that wariness as well, but instead she had taken up extreme curiosity. Normally he would support that, but he didn’t feel the need to go searching for a tiny two year old in a huge and crowded town such as this, not today, not with Zanta home sick.

There was nothing wrong with Zanta’s immune system, but considering that was the first time she had been out of Skifander and surrounded by a large group of people, it was suddenly getting attacked by foreign illnesses it had never had to deal with before. Klaus had kept a wary eye on her the last day or so since he had noticed her fever, but she seemed to be doing well, if miserable and bored and annoyed with the whole bed rest thing.

She was exhausted though, having spent the whole night coughing.  She had tried to set herself up on the couch in the sitting room so she wouldn’t keep the twins up or get them sick, but Klaus had put his foot down and had arranges a “Sleep over” with himself and The Twins in the sitting room instead. They had been thrilled by the novelty of it all. Unfortunately it hadn’t helped her sleep much, something she had thankfully been making up as he had prepared for a trip to the market. He had hoped to let her sleep for a bit longer had had taken The Twins with him.

It was good for them to go out of the apartment anyway, even if Zeetha was slowly driving him mad.

With a sigh Klaus turned onto another street. Several older kids were chasing each other around the crowds, getting in the way of shoppers who crowded to either side of the streets around the different stands selling all sorts of items. If he didn’t look to hard Klaus could pretend that everything was normal, like it had been when he had been a student here.

But no, things were not the same. Clothing was more worn, the stands were half empty, a thick tension covered the area, and there were one of Beetles guard clanks at every street corner. Beetlesburg might not have been hit, might be safe behind its walls, but it had still been affected by this long, long war.

Klaus sighed and stopped in front of a bakery where a young girl was selling yesterday’s bread. With a quick glance to make sure Zeetha was still with him, she was, her eyes darting from person to person, he began to inspect her wares.

 

Zeetha was entranced by the scores of people who walked by, every one of them different, some even more than usual, with mechanical spider legs or two heads. She went to take a step to get a closer look at a dog with five legs but then flinched and looked up at her father. With a sigh she stayed put and instead turned to look behind her.

That’s when her gaze landed on a huge hulk of a man who could easily rival her father in size. He had oil stained clothes and black hair and was carving something. She forgot her Fathers warning entirely and stepped closer.

 

A man, once referred to as Punch but had since changed his name to Adam, was bored. Business was slow, most of the customers he did business with, farmers with tractors and other farm equipment, had either been forced to give up the trade, or had disappeared. And of who was left, along with the people who lived in the city, had to carefully count their coins.

To try and alleviate his boredom Adam had begun to carve out some figures in some scrap wood of his. Something he did often enough that children has started to migrate to this street, in hopes of being the one who got the free toy at the end of the day.

He had just been finishing up some creature of some kind, when a little voice brought him back to reality.

“Wow!” A tiny girl said wearing in clothes too big for her to the point even with her sleeves and pants legs rolled up they still pooled around her ankles and wrists. Her hair was a surprising green, a young construct perhaps. “You big as Zo!”

Adam cocked an eyebrow the girl, he was big sure but he had never been compared to a Zoo before.

The girl looked down at the figure in his hands and pointed. “What that?”

Adam looked down at the figure. He really wasn’t sure what it was or when he had seen it, though in The Castle was his best bet. Looking back up he scanned the crowds.

While kids often roamed the streets alone in this area of town, they usually weren’t this young or small. He hoped her parents were nearby, or, he grimaced, her creator if she really was a construct. At least she looked healthy and well taken carried of even if her clothes were worn and far to large.

Just as he was about to ring the bell he used to inform Lilith, once known as Judy, that he had a customer, since the little girl seemed to be getting annoyed at not being answered, a slightly frantic call echoed over the crowd.

The little girl’s eyes went wide. “Uh-oh.”

“Zeetha!” A man cried, grabbing the girl by the back of her shirt and pulling her up off the ground. “What did I tell you—“ He stopped and stared at Adam, who was staring slacked jawed back at him. It was Klaus.

Klaus ignored the little girl’s whine of, ZOOOOOOO, and frantic squirming to instead gasp out, “Punch?”

That woke Adam out of his funk, and he quickly mimed a shushing motion with one hand, and the other ringing his bell.

Lilith came out a moment later, drying her hands on a dishrag. “Hello welcome to Clay Mechanics! What can we do for you—“

“Judy?” Klaus asked as if he was dreaming, his eyes glancing between the two of them.

“Klaus?” Lilith asked, her eyes shooting up to take in Klaus in his travel weary glory, and then to the squirming toddler in one hand, andthe nervous toddler clutching to his one leg. “I think we need to take this inside.”

A closed sign was quickly put up and Adams chair was brought in and soon Klaus found himself sitting on an overstuffed couch in the Clay’s living room.

“I can’t believe you two are here. When I didn’t hear anything about you I figured you had left with The Boys,” Klaus said with some shock, the twins huddled around him, the newness of the situation having dulled Zeetha’s nerve.

“We would have gone with them if they had asked,” Lilith said with some frustration, coming out of the kitchen with some tea, milk for the twins, and cookies. She settled it down on a low table. “But Klaus what happened to you… and who are these?” She motioned to The Twins with a friendly smile, and offered them each a cookie. They took it with bewildered expressions, studying it.

“Say thank you,” Klaus told the twins.

Absentmindedly they said, “Ala,” before cautiously trying the cookies.

“They’re not really used to sweets, or other people really” Klaus sighed, ruffling Gil’s hair. “They have been on the road with us since they were about a month old.” He smiled softly. “But these are my children, Zeetha and Gil, I know they don’t look it but they are twins, they just turned two and a half. And before you ask, yes her hair is natural; she gets it from her mother.”

“Mother?” Lilith asked, her eyes twinkling. Klaus rolled his eyes but smiled fondly. There had been several years in which Lilith had attempted to set up all the boys, before Lucrezia, and before Barry had made it know he had no interest at all in a relationship, after that only he had been left in her, not always tender, mercies.

“Yes, Zantabraxus, she’s back at the apartment sick at the moment so we can’t stay long.”

“Really! I would love to meet her, are you married?”

“We are considered married in her country, yes.” He said with a smile, the thin scar on his right hand tingling. Not that not being married and having children was a problem in Skifander.

Adam clapped his hands to get their attention, and quickly made some signs. Klaus was a bit rusty but he still could make out what he was saying.

Klaus sighed. “Yes, the same Zantabraxus, as Queen Zantabraxus from out adventure in Skifander. She isn’t a queen anymore, why… well it’s a long story and she will begin to worry if were not back soon.”

The three adults fell into a silence as Gil and Zeetha snuck more cookies, giggling, obviously having found them acceptable. Stopping Zeetha glanced over to where Adam had placed the carved figure. Adam, seeing her glance, picked it up and handed it to her. She burst into a grin and held it up to her brother.

“Rawr,” she roared. Gil burst into giggles and sped off, Zeetha chasing him. Klaus winced.

“Sorry—“

“Don’t be sorry Klaus, it’s nice to have some children running around,” Lilith said. Klaus looked down. He knew that Lilith and Adam had always wanted children but were unable to have any.

“But—“ Lilith started. “Klaus what happened to you?”

Klaus rubbed at his face. “Lucrezia happened.”

Adam and Lilith blinked, and glanced at each other.

“What?”

“She… the day she told me of her engagement to Bill she drugged me and sent me away, to Skifander. I guess she thought I would make things awkward or something, I don’t know, and then she did something to Skifander’s portal so I couldn’t come right back. Zanta and I had to take the long way to Europa because of it.”

Adam and Lilith looked at each other in the way that Klaus knew they were silently talking. He let them go and instead reached out to snatch Gil before he ran straight into the table, Zeetha running into his outstretched arm with a squeal and tripped back laughing. He sighed.

“I’m not quite sure what to think of that,” Lilith finally said.

Klaus shrugged and sighed. “Well she didn’t kill me at least, so I guess she was trying out the whole good girl thing. I would love to know what happened after that though, what’s this I heard about a son?”

Lilith looked a bit sad, but also couldn’t help but smile. “Bill instated they name him after you.”

Klaus groaned. “I don’t even want to know about the rumors that grew because of that.”

Lilith and Adam laughed, while Gil yawned. Klaus glanced down at him and pulled him to his lap. Zeetha expertly removed herself from his reach and instead walked over to the other side of the room to examine a bookshelf, but her movements were slowing down, she was tired too.

“I think we should be going, these two are going to need a nap soon—“

“No!” Zeetha declared from across the room, Klaus ignored her.

“—And Zanta will be worried.”

All three of them stood and Lilith gave Klaus a hug, Gil sleepily giggling from between them.

“Don’t be a stranger okay,” She pulled back with a smile. “And if the two of you ever need a day, or night, off I’m sure Adam and I could watch these two for a little while.” Adam nodded behind her.

Klaus smile. “I’ll keep it in mind, and as soon as Zanta is feeling better I’ll bring her over to meet you.” He sighed. “And we’ll explain everything.” He looked down sadly at Gil who had cuddled up into his shoulder.

Zeetha yawned and tried desperately to pretend she hadn’t. Klaus walked over and picked her up to her halfhearted complaints. They died as Adam handed her the small wooden monster he had carved. Bag hooked to his crook of his elbow he walked with Lilith and Adam to the door. He paused.

“I’m really glad you guys are alright, Judy, Punch,” he said quietly, wanting to say so much more but unable to think of the words.

“And I’m glad you are as well,” Lilith replied. “But its Lilith and Adam now, we are… trying to lie low, away from the fame.” She made a puckered face and Klaus thought back to the few Heterodyne stories he had heard. Adam and Lilith had never been portrayed kindly in them.

“Adam and Lilith,” he said quietly putting it to Memory. “Right, probably best if they—“he shifted his arms where the dozing toddlers rested. “—Just know you by that.”

Lilith smiled a bit. “Come back soon Klaus.”


End file.
